I’ve always seen reading as an act of self care. When you find a book with characters and a setting that you love, it’s so easy to just escape and relax. But I’m not talking about narratives today. Today I’m talking about good ole’ self-help books.

Whether you’re a veteran of the wellness world or just dipping your toes into the water, there’s always more to learn about living and happy and healthy life. So without further adieu, here are my favourite self-help books. I hope you love them and find them as helpful as I do!

I think it’s fitting to begin with the first self-book I ever read (thanks Mom!). This book dives into to the Law of Attraction – the idea that everything you think about and everything you experience in life is brought about by the magnetic power of your thoughts. Like attracts like and what you think about, you bring about. The “Secret” is how you can use the Law of Attraction in every aspect of your life – including getting sweet parking spots.

In her memoir former party girl, Gabrielle Bernstein, makes the spiritual teachings of A Course in Miracles super accessible. By telling her own spiritual journey, she shows us how to tap into our spirits to overcome the blocks to happiness that are already inside of us. By shifting our perceptions, we can overcome our fears and see our lives in a whole new way.

In her third book, Gabrielle Bernstein, gives us a 40 day guide to reprogramming our fearful thoughts and live lives of abundance, acceptance, appreciation and happiness. By examining the root causes of our fears and allowing gratitude, forgiveness, and love to flow through us, we can shift our perspective and attract positive energy into all aspects of our lives, including our relationships, finances, bodies, and self-image.

I’m not a mom but I loved this book. By sharing her own story, Glennon Doyle Melton from Momastery.com invites us to stop making the idea of motherhood, marriage and friendship harder by pretending they’re not hard. Instead she invites us to let go of the idea of perfection, believe in ourselves and to be brave and kind. “We can do hard things” is still one of my personal mantras.

Dr. Brené Brown shows us that while being vulnerable is uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous, when we step back and examine our lives, nothing is as uncomfortable or dangerous as wondering what it would be like if we had shown up. Daring Greatly invites us to be courageous and lean into the discomfort of vulnerability to transform the way we live, love, parent and lead.

The Desire Map is a holistic life-planning tool that will revolutionize the way you go after what you want in life. Instead of all the bucket lists, strategic plans, big dreams and goals that just burn you out, Danielle Laporte invites us to get clear on how you want to feel, and create practical goals to achieve your “core desired feelings” in every area of your life.

What’s next on my reading list?

From the Publisher: Eckhart Tolle shows how our incessant thought creates the mental and emotional pain we experience. By introducing us to living fully in the present instead of being locked into regrets about our past, anxiety over our current situation, or worry about our future, he guides us into living in the “now,” where problems simply don’t exist. By awakening us to the spiritual dimension of our lives, The Power of Now enables us to embrace our true self, enter into peace of mind, and find joy in our everyday living.

From the Publisher: Brené Brown, Ph.D., a leading expert on shame, authenticity, and belonging, shares what she’s learned from a decade of research on the power of Wholehearted Living — a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness.In her ten guideposts, Brown engages our minds, hearts, and spirits as she explores how we can cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough, and to go to bed at night thinking, Yes, I am sometimes afraid, but I am also brave. And, yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am worthy of love and belonging.

What are your favourite self-help books?

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Oh hey there!

You may call me D.

Wife to C. and dog mama to Bailey, I'm a thirty year old elementary school teacher and cancer survivor hailing from the Great White North a.k.a. Canada. Blonde hair? I've already got it. My real ambition is leading a happy, healthy and inspired life.